Second Chances and New Beginnings
by CeCe17
Summary: "Every story has an end, but in life every end is just a new beginning." Damon's life had ended twice. He really thought the last time was IT for him. Yet here he was living a life he didn't know he wanted. Maybe this was his second chance to live out the life that ended too soon the first time. Even if it was with someone he had no recollection of every meeting.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Hey, so this is my first story that I have written for this fandom. So please try to take it easy on me. First of all I wanted to point some things out. This story is going to take place after Season Five but it won't follow Season Six. So don't expect to see what's happening in the new season in this story. Secondly this is a Damon/OC story, so if you're a Damon/Elena shipper, you probably wont want to read this story and that's fine but if you choose to read this story anyway, then I hope you enjoy. I also realize that this type of story may have been done before but before you start flaming me. I hope you will give this story a shot. Now I hope you will enjoy this story and if you have any questions or suggestions feel free to leave them in a review or PM me.**

**Disclaimer: Now I'm only going to do this once. I don't own TVD or any of its characters or anything that you may recognize from the show. That includes the dialogue (especially the one used in the beginning of this chapter). I also don't own the quote in this chapter. The only thing I own is my OC and any other character that you don't recognize from the show.**

* * *

_~Sometimes, life gives you a second chance _

_Because just maybe you weren't ready the first time~_

* * *

"You lied to me," Elena said crying, looking in the direction in which she thought Damon was standing.

"Even if I wanted to apologize," Damon says as he brushes Elena's hair back. "You can't hear me, so I won't," Damon says as he looks at Elena crying.

"Please don't leave me," Elena says as through her tears.

"I don't have a choice baby," Damon softly says.

Damon looks at Elena trying to cherish this final moment with her.

"You are by far the greatest thing to ever happen to me in my one hundred and seventy three years on this earth," he says not making a move to comfort her, knowing it would only make things worse. "The fact that that I get to die knowing that I was loved… not just by anyone but by you… Elena Gilbert… is the epitome of a fulfilled life."

Elena slides down to the ground in tears, sobbing.

"It's never going to get any better than this," Damon says as he crouches down in front of her. "I peaked."

Damon caresses Elena's face, feeling his heart break for the girl he is in love with.

"I love you… Elena," Damon says knowing it's going to be the last time that he will be able to tell her, even if she can't hear him.

"Please. Please come back to me," Elena pleads, not being able to see Damon but knowing that he can hear her.

Damon sadly watches Elena plead him to come back, knowing that there's nothing he can do to fulfill it.

"Bye," he softly whispers before disappearing and leaving a sobbing Elena behind in the crypt.

* * *

The wind is roughly blowing as Damon finds Bonnie on the Other Side.

As he's walking to stand beside her the ground begins to shake, "This place is going down isn't it?"

"It is," Bonne simply answers.

"I'm sure there are a million people we'd rather be with right now," Bonnie says as she looks at Damon, before grabbing his hand and intertwining their fingers.

"A couple thousand at most," Damon answers looking down at their hands, before looking back at Bonnie.

As the wind begins to pick up and a bright light appears, they both look forward awaiting what's to come.

"Do you think it'll hurt?" Bonnie questions as the light begins to get brighter.

"I don't know-," Damon begins to say but is cut off as the light shines really bright and it engulfs them.

* * *

Damon woke up gasping for air. Before sitting up with his back against the headboard. He rubbed his face before running his hands through his hair. Looking around he didn't recognize the room he was currently in.

Hearing a door knob rattle, Damon watched as a dark haired woman made her way out of the bathroom. Carrying a small pile of clothes, before dumping them into them into the hamper in the corner of the room.

His eyes snapped towards her face when she turned around.

"Hey. You're awake," She said as she smiled, before walking towards the bed.

"You're pregnant," Damon blurted out as he saw her rest her hand on her showing belly.

"I've only been this way for the last eight and a half months babe," she said softly laughing. "Did it barely hit you that we're going to be parents?"

Damon didn't know what was going on. Vampires couldn't reproduce. Yet he was staring at her pregnant belly, while trying to figure out an explanation. That's when his eyes zeroed in on the rings on her left hand. Seeing the engagement ring and wedding band had him quickly looking at his own hands.

He noticed he was only wearing a wedding band and no daylight ring. Yet the curtains were wide open letting the sunshine pour into the room and he wasn't burning to ashes.

"Are you feeling okay?"

Damon looked up at the strange woman whose name he didn't even know. Who turned out was _his wife_ and was pregnant with _his_ _baby_.

"Yeah I'm fine," he lied not wanting to let on to how he was really feeling.

"Are you sure?" she asked as she looked at him in concern.

"Yeah I'm sure," Damon quickly said. "Why?"

"You're just acting strange."

"Had a weird dream is all," he said hoping she wouldn't question him any further.

She looked like she didn't believe him before shaking her head and softly smiling at him.

"Ok. Well you have to take a shower and get ready so we're not late to our doctor's appointment."

He numbly nodded pulling the sheets away, while still trying to figure out what was going on.

"I'll be downstairs making breakfast. So try to hurry ok?"

He nodded as he watched her walk out the room.

He didn't know how he got here. Shouldn't he cease to exist? Last time he checked he had died. That_ dream _has been his reality. He and Bonnie had gone down with the Other Side.

_Bonnie_. He didn't know what had happened to her. Was it possible that she was here, wherever_ here_ was, as well?

* * *

**AN: So there you have it. The first chapter of this story. Please let me know whether I should continue it or not because I don't want to continue to write this if no one is interested in reading. So please review to let me know. If I see that there's is a lot or a good amount of interest in this story then I will post the next chapter soon where you will learn the mystery woman's name and what happened to Bonnie.**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Thank you to Kayla for reviewing. I also want to thank e1311, Lizzy Salvatore-Cooper-Grey,CHH-666 for following. I also want to thank okgurl87 for reviewing and following this story as well as Calliope's Scribe for following and adding this story to your favorites. I'm hopping that this means that you want me to continue this story, so this chapter is dedicated to you guys and I hope you enjoy it.**

* * *

Chapter Two

She was downstairs in the kitchen making pancakes, while Damon was upstairs taking a shower and getting ready. She was so concentrated on not burning the food as she moved around the kitchen, that she didn't notice Damon leaning against the kitchen doorway.

She was busy whisking a bowl of eggs that she had forgotten to flip the pancakes on the griddle.

Smelling something burning, had her turning as quickly as she possibly could. She let out a couple of curse words as she scrambled for the spatula.

Flipping them she noticed the bottom burned severely. Knowing that they weren't edible anymore, she started placing them on a plate so she could throw them away. All at once instead of going back and forth.

She had just turned to throw them away, when she heard someone clear their throat. The sudden noise made her jump and accidently drop the plate spilling the burnt pancakes on the floor.

"Sorry," Damon apologized as he moved into the kitchen. "I'll get those," he said before crouching down to pick up the mess on the floor.

"Thanks," she said. "It would have taken me a while to get those by myself," she said, motioning towards her stomach when Damon looked up.

She stepped aside watching, as he stood and threw her failed attempt into the trash.

Hearing her take a sharp intake of breath had him quickly turning to face her.

"You okay? You're not going into labor are you?" he quickly asked.

"No," she said as she shook her head and softly smiled at him. "The baby just decided to make its presence known."

He watched her softly rub her belly.

"Give me your hand," she said as she looked at him before holding her hand out.

He slowly closed the distance between them and slowly raised his hand.

Taking his hand and placing it on her belly she moved it around and held it still for a couple of seconds. She watched him as they waited for the baby to kick again.

She watched as he softly smiled as the baby kicked again.

When he looked up, she softly smiled at him. Standing up on her toes, the best she could anyway, she kissed him. She felt him tense up but decided to not bring it up as she stepped away from him.

"I'm going to finish making breakfast," she softly said.

"Do you need any help?"

She looked at him as she finished pouring more pancake batter onto the griddle.

"Yeah. Could you keep an eye on this while I cook the eggs?"

He nodded before moving to lean on the counter close to the stove.

* * *

Sitting in the OB/GYN waiting room was an experience he didn't think he would ever witness. As if the morning events hadn't been somewhat awkward. Sitting in a room with diagrams of the various stages of pregnancy and delivery was making him uncomfortable and he didn't really think it was possible for him to feel this way.

Since waking up, he realized he was still living in Mystic Falls. He just hadn't seen any really familiar faces yet and he didn't need his daylight ring to walk in the sun. Which he figured could only mean one thing. Somehow he had gone back to being human.

Looking up towards the front desk he saw a familiar face. The short haired brunette looked up at him and they both shared the same expression on their faces as they stared at one another. She picked up a file before opening the door leading into the waiting room.

"Vivienne Collins," she called out as she looked around the room.

He looked around the room and saw the mystery woman stand up. Now he had a name to the mysterious woman who he was married and having a baby with. He watched as she started to walk towards the door before stopping.

"Aren't you going to come?" Vivienne asked while raising her eyebrow.

"Do you want me too?"

"We made this baby together," she said. "I think it's only fair we do this together as well."

"We need to talk," the brunette haired nurse whispered as she walked with Damon.

"Straight ahead and fifth door on the right," she called out to Vivienne who looked over her shoulder and pointed at the door.

Seeing the nurse nod she went into the room. Leaving Damon and the nurse slowly walking before stopping a little way from the room.

"What the hell is going on?" Damon fiercely whispered, not wanting to be overheard.

"I don't know but we need to figure this out," Bonnie said in the same tone as him. "Meet me at the Grill in an hour and we'll talk more about it."

Damon nodded before walking into the room followed by Bonnie. He watched as Bonnie took Vivienne's vitals before telling them the Doctor Goldstein would be in shortly and leaving.

They both sat in silence waiting for the doctor. Vivienne was looking at a poster near the exam table and Damon was looking around the room, noticing the models on the counter. Hearing a knock they both looked towards the door.

"Hey. How are you feeling?" a blonde average height woman asked.

"Fine. Just the normal pregnancy problems," Vivienne answered as she watched her doctor nod and write in her chart.

"So you said you wanted to wait to find out the sex of the baby until we could completely define whether it was a boy or girl," she said looking at Damon and Vivienne. "Do you want to find out or do you want to wait until the baby is born?"

Vivienne turned towards Damon. "Do you want to find out what we're having?"

"Do you want to?"

"It'll make it easier to set up the nursery and buy stuff for the baby when we go shopping later on," Vivienne said. "But if you want to wait we can just buy what we'll need during our hospital stay in neutral colors."

"If you want we can start and you can decide during the ultrasound," Doctor Goldstein said as she moved turned the ultrasound machine on.

"Lay back and pull your shirt up and over your belly and pull your pants down a little," she said as she watched Vivienne do as she was told before squirting some gel and moving the wand to spread the gel.

The only sound was the doctor clicking some buttons before the swoosh sound of a fast heartbeat filled the room.

"There's your baby's heartbeat," she said as she moved the wand around. "There's the head and it's in a good position to tell whether it's a boy or a girl."

Vivienne turned to look at Damon and found him, with his elbows on his knees and his head resting on his clasped hands, staring at the screen intently.

"Do you want to find out or wait," she softly asked him.

He glanced towards her before looking at the screen again, "Let's find out."

"Are you sure?" the doctor asked looking at both of them nod before moving the wand and pressing a bottom. "Congratulations. You're having a boy."

* * *

**AN: There you have it Chapter Two for this story. I can't wait to read your thoughts on it. Whether you liked it or not. Although if you didn't like it please don't flame. Constructive criticism is welcome as well as to any suggestions on how to make the story better. All ideas, suggestions, questions are welcome. Feel free to PM if you want to bounce any suggestions or ideas for this story. If I end up using your suggestion or idea the credit will obviously go to you. So with that said I hope you will review and let me know whether I should continue to write for this story or not before I get too invested into this.**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: I want to start by thanking the readers who have added this to their favorites list as well as to the readers who have followed this story. As well as VikasAdiwal and Supernatural Creatures Rock100 for reviewing. Also thank you BellaSalvatore1918 for helping me out and being my beta for this story. With that said I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

Chapter Three

"You okay?" Vivienne asked, looking at Damon. He had been quiet since they had left the clinic.

"Why is your last name Collins on your chart? Shouldn't it be Salvatore since we're married?" Damon asked, glancing at her before looking back towards the road.

"Are you sure you're feeling okay? Besides… you know why," Vivienne said looking at him. Seeing Damon remain quiet, she sighed, "The reason why my last name is Collins and not Salvatore is because we found out I was pregnant before we got married."

They were both silent, but for different reasons. Damon didn't know what to say and Vivienne was waiting for him to speak up.

She moved around in her seat trying to get comfortable but the ache in her back was making it impossible.

"You alright?" he questioned as he saw her moving around and rubbing her back.

"My back's just hurting," Vivienne answered while sighing in frustration. "Is it alright if we postpone this until tomorrow? It's just that with my back aching, I won't be comfortable moving around."

Instead of answering, Damon turned the car back around and headed in the direction of his new home.

"We should start picking out baby names, now that we know what the sex of the baby is," she said, breaking the silence.

"Whatever you decide to name him is fine," Damon told her as he turned onto their street.

"I would really like it if you would decide on a name with me or picked a name that you liked. This baby is half yours so you should have a say in his name as well," Vivienne stated watching Damon closely knowing something was wrong. "Are you sure you're feeling okay?"

"Will you stop asking that?" Damon snapped without looking at her. "I'm fine."

He pulled into the driveway. He had just turned the car off when Vivienne threw the door open before exiting as fast as she could, slamming the door shut and making her way up the front steps of the house.

Sighing, Damon followed. Neither said anything as he unlocked the front door.

Stepping into the house, she made her way up the stairs while he closed the door behind him and went into the living room.

He sighed in frustration while rubbing his hands down his face before dropping onto the couch and looking around the room. He noticed that it was spotless like the rest of the house seemed to be.

Damon got up and made his way towards the mantel as he noticed the picture frames resting on it.

The first one he looked at, was of them kissing as the sun set behind them. The next one appeared to have been taken at some party; and as he took a closer look, he realized that it was at the Founder's Day kickoff party.

The third frame, which was in the middle, was what he thought had to be their wedding photo. He was dressed in a black dress shirt with a light blue tie and vest along with some black dress pants and shoes. She was dressed in a knee length strapless dress. She had her left hand on his chest while his was wrapped around her waist. They were both looking at the camera but what he noticed the most about the picture was the look in her eyes that seemed to make her blue eyes seem brighter and the way her smile brightened up her whole face.

"That had to be one of the happiest days of my life."

Damon spun around to see Vivienne standing at the edge of the couch. Her left hand rested on her belly while the other held a book. Letting the book fall onto the couch, she walked closer.

"We had just found out I was pregnant and you proposed right in the hotel room bathroom doorway," she told him, chuckling. "Wasn't the most romantic proposal but we were too caught up in the moment to really care."

She picked the frame up, "We got married that same day just before my cousin's wedding." She softly laughed. "I can't believe we had one of those Vegas weddings. The only difference is we were both sober."

He smirked before heading towards the couch.

"Baby names?" he questioned as he picked the book off the couch before looking up as she put the picture in its place.

"Yeah," she said as she walked towards him and brushed her hair behind her ears. "I thought I would start looking at names and making a list of the ones I like."

He nodded and set the book back onto the couch. Damon noticed that Vivienne seemed disappointed that he hadn't said anything else, but what was he supposed to say?

"I'm thinking of going to the Grill," Damon stated as he walked towards the front hall. "Do you want me to bring you back something?"

"It's okay. I'll just make myself something here," she answered softly. "But I'll call you if I start craving something from there."

Damon nodded and saw her give him a small smile but he just turned around and left.

* * *

Walking into the Grill, Damon looked around before making his way towards Bonnie after he spotted her sitting in a secluded table.

"Good to see this place isn't burnt to a crisp," Damon said, sitting down across from her. "Now how do we get out of here?"

"First we have to figure out how we got here in the first place," Bonnie explained.

"Or you could just use your witchy powers to get us out of here."

"That's the problem," she said, leaning forward.

"Let me guess, you still don't have them," Damon said leaning forward before rolling his eyes. "So what the hell are we supposed to do?"

"Try to blend in while we figure out the missing pieces and find someone to help us," Bonnie said, looking around making sure no one was close enough to hear their conversation.

"Would you relax?" he questioned, noticing her look around. "The tables around us are empty."

"We don't know if there are supernatural beings lurking around," she stated, leaning back into her seat.

"There's not because, if there were, I'm pretty sure I would still be a vampire," Damon said, looking around.

"You mean…" Bonnie started to say.

"I'm a human," Damon sighed.

Bonnie looked at Damon not knowing what to say before remembering what she had wanted to ask him at the clinic.

"Why were you at the clinic earlier and with one of the patients?"

"You mean Vivienne?" Damon asked seeing Bonnie nod. "Apparently she's my wife and expecting my kid."

Bonnie looked at Damon in disbelief as he seemed so nonchalant about the whole wife and kid thing.

"She's really pretty," Bonnie stated looking at Damon.

"Yeah she's beautiful," he said shrugging. "But she's not Elena so it doesn't really matter now does it?"

"Speaking of Elena," Bonnie said. "Have you seen her or anyone else?"

"No. Have you?"

Shaking her head, she sighed. "I think we won't be seeing them either."

Damon raised his eyebrow, "Why?"

"Think about it Damon," she said. "We died so we don't exist in their world. So it's only logical that they don't exist in our world."

"We're still in Mystic Falls though," Damon pointed out.

"Yes, but it's an alternate Mystic Falls," Bonnie said, gesturing around. "You blew up the Grill, that's how you died. Yet here it is, intact, like nothing ever happened."

"So you're telling me that we're stuck in some alternate Mystic Falls until we find someone," Damon leaned forward, "who may not even exist, to help us find our way back?"

"Yes," Bonnie said, knowing that their chances of going back were slim. But at least she was being optimistic about it.

"Face it, we're never going to find a way out of here," Damon said, growing frustrated at the idea of being stuck living a life with someone who he knew nothing about.

"I know you miss, Elena," Bonnie said. "But you have to make an effort to get to know Vivienne. Be nice to her Damon. She is having your baby after all."

* * *

Walking into the house, Damon noticed how quiet it was. He was going to check upstairs but he remembered that Vivienne had been in the living room when he left.

He stopped walking as he saw her asleep on the couch with a throw blanket covering her bottom half.

As soon as he was standing in front of her he gently took the book from her hand putting it on top of the coffee table. He was going to walk away when he spotted a notebook and pen lying on the floor next to her spot on the couch.

Picking it up, he noticed that it was the list of baby names she was planning on making. Looking back at her and noticing she was still sleeping, he took the notebook into the kitchen with him to read over while he got something to drink.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: I know it's been a while since I updated but I haven't given up on this story. Life and a case of writer's block got in the way but I want to thank LondonBella for letting me bounce ideas off her to help me get my muse back. As well as for editing the chapters. And thank you to those who have reviewed, followed and added this story to your favorites list. I'm glad you're enjoying this story so far and I hope you'll enjoy it even more as it progresses. With that said I hope you all have a great and safe weekend and enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

Chapter Four

Vivienne didn't even know when she had moved upstairs into the bedroom. The last thing she remembered was looking through the baby name book and writing down the ones she liked.

Sitting up, she noticed she was still dressed in yesterday's clothes. Looking towards the clock on the nightstand, she knew it wouldn't be long before Damon had to go in to work.

Throwing the covers off, she quickly tied her hair in a messy bun and brushed her teeth before she made her way downstairs to make breakfast. She decided on taking a shower after she had made something because she was so hungry, having to feed two.

In her hurry to make it downstairs, she didn't even notice that the other side of the bed was empty. However, hearing pans clang together and the smell of bacon wafting from the kitchen made her stop and lean against the kitchen doorway.

She watched as Damon moved around the kitchen with a certain ease and finesse that she didn't have when it came to cooking. Instead, she rushed around and often spilt rather than burnt something.

"Sit down. Breakfast will be ready soon," Damon stated, breaking her from her thoughts. Vivienne watched as he poured a glass of orange juice before placing it in front of her as soon as she sat down at the breakfast island.

Uttering a soft "thank you", Vivienne took a sip of her juice and noticed her notebook off to the side. Pulling it towards her, she moved her juice off to the side so she wouldn't accidentally spill it.

"Stefan," Damon simply stated, causing her to look up.

"What?" she asked, furrowing her brow.

"The name for the baby," Damon explained.

"What kind of name is Stefan? It sounds like a colonial name from the 1800s."

Damon stared at Vivienne, amused. "My name is from that era too you know," he informed with a smirk towards her direction.

"Wasn't there a Damon and Stefan Salvatore in Mystic Falls during the 1800s?" Vivienne questioned as she recalled seeing both names on a list at the Founder's party a while back.

"Yeah. They're my ancestors," Damon said as he tried to keep a straight face.

She moved her notebook towards the corner as he set a plate with scrambled eggs, bacon, and pancakes in front of her. Just looking at the plate and aroma it was giving off was enough to make her mouth water.

"If you don't want to use it as a first name, we could use Stefan as the middle name instead," Damon said as he served his own plate.

"Why Stefan?" Vivienne asked, curious as to why Damon chose that name.

"Well, I knew a guy once who was named Stefan. He and I were pretty close...plus, we'd be honoring my ancestors. Got to keep a Salvatore tradition somewhere in the name."

Vivienne nodded, but decided not to push the subject any further noting how Damon's demeanor changed after uttering his explanation.

"Okay," Vivienne stated. She knew it meant a lot to Damon to incorporate the name in because it was a way to honor his ancestors and keep up the family tradition.

"Nathaniel," Damon said, motioning towards the notebook.

"That was my favorite."

"I assumed it was. You underlined it three times," Damon teased.

Vivienne embarrassedly looked down at the plate before testing the name out, "Nathaniel Stefan Salvatore. I like it."

"Good. So the name's settled then," Damon said before digging into his food.

Vivienne watched Damon as he dug into his food like a man who hadn't eaten in days. Smiling and shaking her head, she began to follow in her husband's footsteps; only, she didn't look like a famished person eating.

"I was thinking we could go to the store today after school and actually get some baby shopping done," Vivienne suggested in between bites. "We only have two weeks at the most to get the nursery ready and buy some outfits. The baby could even be born before those two weeks are up and we don't have anything ready."

"School?"

"Yeah. The place where we teach students," Vivienne said wearily, watching Damon.

"I'm a teacher?" Damon softly questioned.

"A history teacher," Vivienne added, still watching Damon. "Are you sure you're okay? You've been acting weird these past couple of days. You didn't hit your head or anything did you?"

"No. It's just I must have forgotten with the baby buzz," Damon said nonchalantly.

Vivienne continued to eye Damon as she placed her empty plate and glass in the sink.

"Okay. Well I should go get ready and then we can go," she slowly stated, watching him nod.

* * *

Vivienne watched Damon drive off before making her way into the school. She knew something was up with him but every time she asked, he just brushed her off. His strange behavior had her doubting whether he was ready for a baby or not; or even if he was ready to be a husband and a father.

Vivienne shook the negative thoughts out of her mind. Instead of focusing on her doubts, she decided to focus on getting through the day. She had just set down her bag on her desk as the first couple of students started walking in. She silently watched them interact with their parents as they put their stuff away in their cubbies.

Waving at the parents who noticed her, she couldn't help but think about how that would be her in a couple of years. She would be dropping her son off at school. She couldn't help but wonder whether he would be a mini Damon or if he would be a mix of both of them. Either way, she just wanted him to be healthy.

"Good morning Ms. Collins," one of her students called out pulling her out of her reverie.

"Morning Lulu," she said, smiling at the little girl.

* * *

Damon put the car in park and stared ahead before shutting the car off. Mystic Falls high school held a lot of memories. The only difference was, he was in a whole different universe.

Damon sighed as he watched the remaining students make their way into the school. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't realize someone was standing by his car until they knocked on the window.

"I know dealing with a bunch of hormonal teenagers can be tough sometimes, but are you really going to sit in your car all day?"

Damon had no idea who the guy was. Instead of uttering a response, he grabbed his messenger bag and got out of the car.

"How are the wife and junior doing?"

Damon took a couple of seconds to answer as they made their way to the school's entrance, all the while trying to figure out what role this guy had in his life in this alternate Mystic Falls.

"They're both doing well," he finally uttered as they passed a group of students.

Before the mystery man could say anything a football sailed through the air narrowly missing them, only since Damon had caught the ball just in time. He quickly scanned around the school's front lawn before spotting the person responsible for the almost mishap.

"Nice catch Mr. S," the blonde student in a football jersey said.

Damon watched as the kid held his hands up to catch the ball. Damon had to fight the urge to either pop the ball or throw it with enough force to leave the blonde breathless. However, the latter was nearly impossible since he didn't have his vampire strength and the distance was short between them. So, he had to settle and play the nice guy by gently throwing it back.

"Be more careful. You don't want to get a detention by hitting a faculty member," Damon warned.

He couldn't believe that he had just uttered that warning when the old him wouldn't have cared or even bothered at all to play nice. Unless it was of convenience to him, then he would be just as sweet as can be. Although, it seemed like that rule didn't apply in the alternate world he now found himself in.

So instead of dwelling so much on the past, he decided to focus on how he was going to get through the day dealing with a bunch of rowdy, hormonal, insolent teenagers. All the while, he pushed the urges to simply murder them away. After all he did have to keep up appearances. At least until Bonnie was able to find a way to get the hell out of the nightmare he was currently living.

Although, he was getting to experience something he had given up a long time ago: the chance to have his own family and be a father. Even though he didn't know how long he was going to be around or if he would even be around long enough to get to hold his own flesh and blood. Even if it was only for a moment.

However, getting to experience becoming a father didn't change the fact that he wanted to go back home because the guy he was here wasn't who he really was. At least, not to him. The Damon here was the part of him that died back in 1864 when he first died. The part of him which he had forgotten even existed anymore.

Yet here he was...human and close to becoming a father, married to a woman he had no recollection of whatsoever. But he was starting to realize that it wasn't as big of a problem as he had originally thought. It could have been much worse.

It was kind of like fate was giving him that second chance at living a life he would have had. If he had never met Katharine and made the decisions that changed his life forever.

* * *

"Ms. Collins," the little, blonde, pig-tailed, six-year-old at the back of the room called out.

"Yes Lulu?" Vivienne asked, looking at the little girl.

"I was just thinking. If you're married and having a baby," the little girl paused as she continued coloring. "Why don't you have the same last name as your husband, like my mommy and daddy?"

Vivienne didn't have an answer simple enough for the little girl, who stared at her innocently while waiting for an answer.

"Because Lulu," Vivienne said, stalling while she scrambled to give an answer.

"Because why?"

"Because it would be hard for you to pronounce it," she finally answered.

"Why?"

"My husband's name is long and hard to write and pronounce."

"What is it?"

"Salvatore," Vivienne answered.

"Salva-what?"

"Salvatore," Vivienne said, pronouncing it slowly. She tried not to laugh at the little girl's expression.

"I think I'll just stick to Ms. Collins," Lulu stated before returning to her drawing.

Vivienne softly laughed, as she walked back to her desk. Thinking that Salvatore was a mouthful but that was her new last name which made her a part of the Salvatore family. Even if it was just her and Damon.

* * *

"Shouldn't you be on your way to pick up your wife?"

Damon looked up from grading papers to see Mr. Abercrombie &amp; Fitch leaning against the doorjamb.

"I don't have to pick her up until 2:30," Damon answered before going back to the paper he had been grading earlier.

Damon had hoped that the guy would have gotten the hint and left him alone, but instead he only took it as an invitation to walk into the room and make himself comfortable in a desk.

"I know this is your free period and all. So you take the extra time to get ahead in grading," Abercrombie &amp; Fitch said, leaning forward. "But you're late picking your wife up. There's only ten minutes until three."

"What?" Damon questioned looking up at the clock.

Realizing he was late, he started to quickly pick up the essays, making sure to quickly separate the graded from the ungraded ones, before efficiently stuffing them into his bag.

"Shouldn't you be teaching a class or something?" Damon snapped after having enough of Abercrombie &amp; Fitch laughing at his hurried movements.

"Decided to let them leave ten minutes early to get assignments they needed to turn in before school let out."

"Aren't you thoughtful," Damon sarcastically stated.

"Only want the best for my students."

Damon shook his head and rolled his eyes before slinging his messenger across his shoulders. Making sure he had everything he needed, before quickly erasing the board. He was just going to set the eraser down when one of his mid-day students rushed through the door, a little winded.

"I'm… sorry… to… just… burst… in," the brunette said in between breaths as she fixed her glasses. "But I wasn't sure if I would still catch you and I needed to turn my essay in, since I couldn't print it at home because my stupid printer didn't want to work and-"

"It's fine. I was just about to leave," Damon said cutting her off, taking the stapled papers from her.

Damon pretended not the notice the brunette's blush as their fingers had quickly brushed, but he knew Abercrombie &amp; Fitch was going to give him hell for it as soon as she left.

"Thank you Mr. Salvatore, I promise I won't turn it in this late again," she said as she began backing away. "Have a good weekend."

"You too, Sofia," he said after a quick glance at the name on the paper.

"Bye Mr. Fisher," Sofia said before quickly exiting the room.

"Don't," Damon warned.

Already knowing what Abercrombie &amp; Fitch, whose real last name was apparently Fisher, was going to say.

"I wasn't going to say anything besides the fact that you're really late now," he said just as the bell rang. "But since you clearly want me to say something, all I'm going to say is...stick to someone your own age and you're married with a kid on the way."

Damon rolled his eyes shutting the lights off, as Abercrombie laughed following him out the door.

* * *

Vivienne looked at the clock, as she finished grading one of her student's vocabulary worksheet, and started to gather her things. Knowing that Damon wouldn't be very long after remembering that he had to pick her up because she knew that he had forgotten. Too caught up in his work, like he tended to do.

So it wasn't odd that he hadn't been on time or that he hadn't called to tell her. It wasn't necessary and she already knew the reason behind it because it was the same as always, he had been too caught up in his work to notice the time. He seemed to be losing track of time more often the closer it got to her due date and she knew it was because he was working extra hard to get ready to take off the first two weeks after the baby was born, causing him to not only plan the current teaching lessons but he had to plan the lessons he wanted the substitute teacher to accomplish during his absence as well.

Luckily for her, she wasn't teaching various grades in high school so she didn't have to make various lesson plans and only had to worry about grading the work her students were currently learning and leave her curriculum up to her substitute. She only had to leave a detailed note on what her students had accomplished so far into the school year and the teaching methods she noticed helped them understand and learn the lesson, as well as to what she expected to be accomplished during her time of maternity leave.

However, that didn't make it easy on her. She had gotten attached to her students like she seemed to always do. Although, this time around she wouldn't be there for the end of the term. So she was making the most of seeing her students because, once she went on leave, she wouldn't be seeing her students anymore. Except for when she comes back and occasionally sees them, next school year, around school...which she was finding was going to be rather hard for her because they really were great students and she had grown really fond of them.

Vivienne took one last look around the room, making sure she hadn't forgotten anything before turning the lights off and locking the classroom door behind her. She made her way down the ramp before heading across the playground towards the front of the school.

"Ms. Collins," she heard a little voice call as she walked towards the doors leading into the main building of the school.

"Hi Luke," she answered once she spotted the little boy. "What can I do for you? Your mom hasn't picked you up yet?"

The little boy shook his head as he reached into his backpack. "She's running late but I wanted to give you this," he explained before handing her a folded piece of paper.

"A card for me?" she questioned, noticing the drawing inside. "Thank you Luke. I love it."

She saw his eyes light up and motioned for him to follow her towards the bench.

"Do you think the baby will like it?" he questioned as he made himself comfortable.

"I think he will love it," she answered looking at the drawing one more time. "This was so sweet of you."

It was a picture of monkeys, a giraffe, a bear and a lion on one side, that she knew he had traced from the stencils they had in class, with "Welcome baby" written in child-like writing on the other side.

* * *

Damon parked the car in front of the small building that served as the main office to the small elementary school. He didn't notice Vivienne at first until he heard laughter, which caused him to turn around and lean against his car. He took in the sight of Vivienne, who hadn't noticed him yet, and a little boy.

He saw how she lovingly looked at the little boy and how she interacted with him. It wasn't hard to realize that she loved children and they loved her. The interaction between her and the little boy was proof of that; and taking in the scene before him, he couldn't help but imagine how she would be with their son. Before he could get too caught up in his thoughts, he noticed a woman walk up to the gate which caused the little boy to excitedly call out to her and Vivienne to take notice of him.

She gave him a smile which caused his heart to flutter. Suddenly, he felt something overcome him and realized that there was something there. That he was starting to fall for his wife. The scene of her and the little boy didn't help matters, either. If anything, it made his feeling more concrete because he knew that she was going to be a good mom. He could practically see it and he knew that, with her around, there was no way he could screw being a dad up.

Besides, he didn't know how long he was going to be stuck in this alternate Mystic Falls; and he was getting a chance to have a family of his own, something he had thought that he wouldn't get the chance to experience. And there he was, too focused on finding a way out instead of enjoying it.

But that was something that was about to change. He wasn't going to give up on finding a way out, but he was going to enjoy this second chance while he could. And, frankly, he couldn't think of someone better to do it with than Vivienne.


End file.
